The entire day was just so stressful. A quiet board this morning meant the entire day was going to be full of pain and suffering. Not just for the patients, even though they are having the worst day of their lives. Still! She chose the worst day to let her intern run the E.R. Because that means she has to monitor the Emergency Room boards. God, she was so relieved when she was eventually set free from the pit, and she was finally able to breathe. Slumping down on the bench in the resident's lounge, finally relaxing after all of that mess. But knowing that after her short break she had to go right back into that nightmare...It may stress her out a little more. Then her phone buzzed, and all of her anxieties seemed to vanish into thin air.

💓 Nathalie💓
I know you're busy and this is totally interrupting your schedule. But there is like this Valentine's Day party of some sort at the park, and since Adrien is going. I'm gonna be there. And I was wondering if you'd go too? It's at 6:30 and it ends around 9:00.

💛April💛
Nathalie...Are you asking me to go to the party with you?

💓 Nathalie💓
well...

💛April💛
I'm just playing!

Sort of...

Yeah, I think I'll be able to go! Today has been a little wild, so it'll be nice to just not worry about anything for a while.

Her heart was beating so fast! And April couldn't help but clutch her phone to her chest and dreamily sigh. There was something about Nathalie. Whenever April would talk to her, nothing else in the world mattered, only her. Is that was love is? When nothing else in the world even existed except for the person right in front of you?

"April, we need a consult." A shrill voice disturbed her thoughts, and she groaned. "Well, what's the case?" April asked while raking her hair back into a ponytail and standing from the bench.

The party starts at 6:30, and Nathalie knew that April was allowed to leave at 7:00. Adrien was getting ready to leave. Gabriel, of course, wasn't going to leave this mansion for the life of him. She gazed down at a velvet black box, decorated elegantly with a red ribbon. Was this a bad idea? A little tag was attached to it. It read: Happy Valentines Day, April. With a cute heart drawn next to April's name. What if she didn't like necklaces? The box snapped open and Nathalie examined the jewelry within it. A cute heart locket laid splayed out on the white silk cloth underneath it. 'No, April adores stuff like this.' Nathalie thought to herself as she carefully closed it.

"Nathalie, I'm ready to go!" Adrien called as he started down the stairs, and Nathalie shoved the small box into her pocket. "Um, it's only 6? And the park isn't that far from here."

"Your father thinks that arriving this early will teach you the importance of responsibility. Arriving somewhere at least fifteen minutes early will help you a lot in the future, Adrien." She could tell that Adrien doubted her words. He truly believed that Gabriel didn't care for him. And for as long as she has worked for the Agreste family, she could admit that...It was upsetting to see Adrien and his father grow apart. But there wasn't anything she could do about that, which was horrible.

Because she loved Adrien like he was her own son.

It was funny, one moment April was standing in the E.R. Consulting a patient about possible brain injury, and suddenly it was like she blacked out. Because before she knew it, April was scrubbing a bar of soap onto her arms and hands and peering into the operating room. There were a ton of things she should be thinking about. Like how to save this man's life, for example. But her mind kept drifting to Nathalie. 'It's just an hour, and you can survive for another hour.' April loved her job! She really did! It was just draining.

"I need to take some time off or something..." She mumbled under her breath as her arms ran under the hot water.

They arrived so early that the fairy lights were still being strung up. Nathalie didn't mind though, and she knew Adrien would probably just sit on a bench somewhere until his friends showed up. However, Adrien apparently had other plans. "I'm going to help them set up," is all she heard before the boy was off.

And now Nathalie was all alone with her thoughts, a pink haze took over the entire park as all of the lights shone brightly all together. It was lovely...Almost feeling like a dream! And now it was her turn to feel her heart racing, this was in fact happening! The clocks all read 6:28...Now all she had to do was wait. 'It feels like I'm about to propose...'

"Hey Bokey, page one of my interns please." She heard a mumbled 'yes doctor' before Bokey moved away from the operating table, without looking up from her patient, she said. "Page Sasha Brightman to O.R. Five, I have an extremely important job for her to do." Important as in, her intern was about to go into her house and search through her closet for any decent dresses she had. Before she knew it, Sasha busted through the O.R. doors all scrubbed in and gloved. Mask and all. 'Oh, she is not going to like this...'

"Sasha, I have something very important for you to do." April said as she lifted her attention from the patient, "do you need help with the surgery—"

"Lord no, I need you to go to my house. There is a key underneath the fake sunflower pot on my front porch, go through my closet and find the nicest dresses and bring them back here." Sasha obviously, was very upset as she ripped the mask from her face "seriously?!" Oh, she was furious, "why would I do that?" Sasha angrily pulled the gloves from her hands and April smiled from behind her own surgical mask. "Because, if you do, I'll let you scrub in on my neuro-oncology tomorrow afternoon." Now that brightened her up quite a bit! A smile curved upon her lips and as doffed the surgical gown. She turned to April "thank you so much! Where are you going? I can pick the perfect dress for you to wear!"

"The Valentine's Day formal that's happening in the park. I'm meeting someone very special and dear to my heart..." She heard Sasha squeal and groaned, "just go before I change my mind!" And with that Sasha quickly rushed out of the operating room, she could hear the girl running down the hall. "She's going to slip and fall."

Before long April was finally done with her procedure, it didn't go as horrible as she thought it would. But she really wished she just wasn't in the hospital. "Hey! April!" Jesus... Maria Simons! "Why did you specifically choose Sasha to be on the surgical team tomorrow? You know I'm better than her!"

"I'm going to ignore you and walk away," April muttered while pulling her ponytail down and shaking her fingers through her locks. "Why? Because you know you made a mistake?" Snapping her head towards Maria, April shook her head "no! I didn't make a mistake, Maria. Sasha has been here longer than you, and she has been my intern for a year now. I trust her." Speaking of Sasha...

She checked her watch at just the right time. 6:45 and the intern was walking through the hospital lounge with dresses of various shades of orange, pink, and red. Her eyes were so full of excitement as she seized April by the arm and started to drag her to the resident lockers. "I guess I'll talk to you later, Maria." Man, the girl was still fuming. Hopefully, she won't get akumatized!

April watched Sasha set all of the dresses she picked out on display. "Now! Since you are going to a formal where you might get to dance with your lady~!" April's face heated up at the thought of dancing with Nathalie and she heard Sasha giggle, "look at you! You're getting all red, so cute!" She ran her fingers through the brunette's locks, and April quickly swatted her hands away, "you got the dresses! You don't have to help me with everything else!" Sasha pouted and let April's hair drop back down to her shoulders, "okay but hear me out! You would look so cute in some eyelin—"

"No!" April whined and buried her face in her hands, "I don't have the time! Just help me choose a dress and then you can get out of here and go catch a case in the pit." Sasha shrugged, "I don't mind helping you, April. I think you'd look really pretty with curled hair." April forced Sasha away from her head, "I know I do! But I really don't have the time to." She brushed past the intern and examined the dresses that she picked out, all of them were absolutely wonderful. That's when she noticed the shoes that Sasha picked out as well. Most of them were black or tan kitten heels, but then there was a pair of strappy wine-red heels that caught her eye. "Where did you find these? I don't remember having a pair that look like this..."

"Oh! You don't! Those are mine. I saw that red dress in your closet and thought: well what if she wants to wear it?" She motioned to the dress that bore the same color of the shoes, "and so I went to my house and got them." That was so nice of her!

"Just return them, please!"

Every passing moment was another minute that Nathalie spent staring at her phone, 7:00...What if April forgot? She knew April probably wouldn't forget, but she couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting off into that territory. 7:01. 7:02. Nathalie's fingers kept rubbing the fabric of the box in her pocket, was she sweating? Suddenly she felt a hand caress her back, "Nathalie?" She knew that voice, so calming, so sweet...April wrapped her arms around Nathalie's waist. "I'm sorry that I'm a little late." She managed to check her phone one last time, 7:15...And she was here!

Spinning around, Nathalie wound April up in a tight hug. Holding her there while April embraced her back lovingly. "My intern was helping me find a dress to wear to this thing." April snorted as she took a step back and spun in a circle, letting the dress' skirt flow with the motion of her body. The heels tapped beautifully underneath her, and when she eventually stopped, she felt her face heat up. Nathalie was standing there with a dazed smile, her eyes soft and kind as they watched her twirl and dance. "I think you look good in red." Nathalie purred, holding her hand out to April who gently took it. With one swift movement, Nathalie pulled her close. Resting her hands on her partner's waist while April wrapped her arms around her neck. They danced closely, swaying together completely in sync. April's temple resting on Nathalie's chest, the entire world disappeared at that moment. The ambiance, the colors, their feelings. It was all perfect.

Adrien was sitting with his friends a few tables away from the pair, and he just so happened to catch a glimpse of them from a distance. It was nice, to see Nathalie so happy. He never really got to see her genuinely smile all that much. In fact, the last time he ever saw her so happy was a little over a year ago. "Look at them..." He nudged Marinette who shifted her gaze to see who exactly he was referring too. "Aww!" She squealed, shaking Alya's arm and pointing to the unaware couple "aren't they sweet?" Alya giggled, "you know...The way that they are dancing reminds me of a whole lot of when you and Adrien danced together a few years ago. Remember? I had to help you out a little." She teased, elbowing Marinette in the side "shut up! I think I'm getting better at talking to him." Alya arched a brow, not exactly believing what her friend was saying. "Really? Ask him to dance then, right now."

"Guys..." Adrien whispered, engaging the girls' attention to the pair again. Nathalie's fingers carefully brought April's chin up, and slowly their lips closed the gap between them. Their bodies held flush against each other, and when they parted, it was clear how overwhelmed April was. But she had the biggest smile plastered on her face, and the group watched as Nathalie pulled a small black box from her pocket. "Oh my god...Is she going to propose?" Adrien faced Marinette but quickly shook his head, "no. At least, I don't think so."

When April opened the box, she felt her ears get hot and knew that Nathalie could see how red her face was. She must have looked like a tomato! A beautiful red heart locket laid inside, she was breathless. Truly taken aback! Peering up at Nathalie and holding the locket to her chest. "It's beautiful Nathalie," she leaned forward and her lover wound her arms around her form. April hastily put the necklace on, gently holding the locket in her fist and peering up "I'm never going to take this off, ever." Their lips met once again but this time when they pulled away, their foreheads pressed together.

"Is it too early to say I love you?"

April shook her head, "no...Because I love you too," she said with that cute smile Nathalie loved so much.